Longtime Co-Publisher Dan DiDio no longer at DC Comics

[James Harvey]

The story is still developing, but multiple outlets are reporting that Dan DiDio is no longer at DC Comics, with today (Feb. 21) being his last. Comicbook.com broke the news:

ComicBook.com has learned that DiDio is no longer with the company, with DC Comics confirming the news. They have not yet issued a statement publicly, though it's likely coming soon.

Please note the story is still developing.

Thoughts?

Note: This is not a thread to bash DiDio or DC Comics. Talk about this topic respectfully or this thread will be closed and infractions dealt as necessary.

 

[Fone Bone]

Is there a scandal brewing? I can't imagine any other reason for the news to unfold this way.

 

[Yojimbo]

Weird, I think I remember from solicits that he's been writing a Metal Men comic - wonder if that's still in the books. Wow, so Jim Lee has all the power more or less right now. Wonder if it has to do with AT&T. Or just almost 20 years and he needed a break for his sanity's sake.

 

[Wonderwall]

If you got nothing nice to say, dont say it. I have literally nothing nice to say about Dan Didio.

Hopefully though he's leaving because he wants to. And hopefully DC is in more than capable hands...hopefully.

 

[Fone Bone]

Seriously, people do not announce retirements with this level of speculation around them. Retiring is a GOOD thing that people are happy to announce. I think something very bad has happened and DC is trying to stop the bleeding for when it comes out.

You can say I'm making a baseless accusation against Didio, but this is just nuts. This is not normal. It's more likely he's in trouble than DC is actually this bad at handling good press. FAR more likely.

Interestingly a recent thread on the Nick forum got my druthers up about speculating on relationships that we aren't privy to. And maybe this isn't any different. But something about this stinks.

 

[Parker-Shepherd]

From what I've seen in behind the scenes videos on YouTube, he seems like a nice guy but as for creative decisions, there's some things that could have been done differently.

When Paul Levitz ran DC, it seemed like the animated series, comics and such were much better.

 

[Otaku-sempai]

Seriously, people do not announce retirements with this level of speculation around them. Retiring is a GOOD thing that people are happy to announce. I think something very bad has happened and DC is trying to stop the bleeding for when it comes out.

I haven't seen any details yet, but the word being bandied about is 'fired' not 'retired'. For what that is worth.

 

[Yojimbo]

Looks he was fired for fostering a poor work environment which made Johns migrate to TV and Film and DiDio butted heads with Scott Snyder who had to fight to keep his Dark Metal away from the upcoming G5 continuity reset (that Snyder thinks will do a lot of harm).

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

And hopefully DC is in more than capable hands...hopefully.

Couldn't agree with you more on that.

 

[Fone Bone]

Looks he was fired for fostering a poor work environment which made Johns migrate to TV and Film and DiDio butted heads with Scott Snyder who had to fight to keep his Dark Metal away from the upcoming G5 continuity reset (that Snyder thinks will do a lot of harm).

That's actually a bit of a relief.

 

[TargetmasterJoe]

The upcoming Free Comic Book Day entry for DC titled "Generation Zero: Gods Among Us" (no relation to the Injustice video games) is said to address continuity and editorial hiccups.

Think that might be a side effect from DiDio's leaving of DC?

As for my thoughts on the matter, I do understand he made some good calls, but to quote someone from TV Tropes, for every good thing he came up with, there were 3-4 bad things, like his weird relationship with legacy characters (pushing for Jaime Reyes while pushing back Dick Grayson and Wally West) or his insistence that superheroes can never marry and be happy overall (which caused a writer for Batwoman to walk out even though Dan was cool with LGBTQ relationships).

Plus butting heads with creators like Geoff Johns and Scott Snyder? That's not okay...

 

[hobbyfan]

Weird, I think I remember from solicits that he's been writing a Metal Men comic - wonder if that's still in the books. Wow, so Jim Lee has all the power more or less right now. Wonder if it has to do with AT&T. Or just almost 20 years and he needed a break for his sanity's sake.

At last check, Metal Men will continue to the end of its 12 issue run. I've a feeling this is an AT&T move, assuming DiDio offended someone on their end. Some of the public remarks he'd made about superhero relationships might've caused a lot more discord than originally imagined.

 

[TargetmasterJoe]

I've a feeling this is an AT&T move, assuming DiDio offended someone on their end. Some of the public remarks he'd made about superhero relationships might've caused a lot more discord than originally imagined.

You might be more right than you think if this article is anything to go by.

It appears that the 5G chaos was finally enough to seal DiDio’s fate. The idea of swapping out new heroes for the older ones got a lot of pushback – especially as DC’s movie slate is gearing back up with Wonder Woman 84 and a new Batman. In addition, the whole Bat Penis Crisis left DiDio with a black mark with Warner/AT&T’s new executive structure.

 

[hobbyfan]

So it was an accumulation of things, including Batman: Damned 1. This is what happens when corporate suits more concerned with the image of their conglomerate begin micromanaging over the smallest errors.

 

[Parker-Shepherd]

It'll be interesting to see what happens with DC now that Dan Didio has left. Apparently, there was a disagreement over some reboot story he was planning to do. I'm not sure how accurate this is, though.

 

[TargetmasterJoe]

This is what happens when corporate suits more concerned with the image of their conglomerate begin micromanaging over the smallest errors.

I don't know if "smallest errors" is the best phrase since DiDio was also notorious for micromanaging the editorial team, doing whatever he could to phase out legacy characters like Dick Grayson and Wally West, claiming superheroes shouldn’t be happy, constantly changing ideas and teams out of nowhere, harboring know sexual harassers like Scott Lobdell, and overall creating a poor work environment.

Yeah, DiDio was...something.

 

[hobbyfan]

I don't know if "smallest errors" is the best phrase since DiDio was also notorious for micromanaging the editorial team, doing whatever he could to phase out legacy characters like Dick Grayson and Wally West, claiming superheroes shouldn’t be happy, constantly changing ideas and teams out of nowhere, harboring know sexual harassers like Scott Lobdell, and overall creating a poor work environment.

Yeah, DiDio was...something.

Funny how Eddie Berganza, a long time editor, was given the gate for sexual harrassment allegations, but Lobdell, not exactly a consistent genius as a writer, keeps getting work?

As far as DiDio's claims that heroes shouldn't be happy, well, they had a guy with a similar agenda over at Marvel before he was moved to their TV/movie division (Joe Quesada)......

 

[Parker-Shepherd]

It seems like some of the people at DC forgot that once upon a time, their main comic book readers and animated series were kids. Now all of a sudden, many of the comics and animated series/movies are primarily for adult audiences with only a small number of books, graphic novels and cartoons for the younger generation.

I'm not sure if some of this was one of the things Dan Dido did but whatever changes were made at DC, starting with the New 52, might explain why their comic book sales haven't been what they used to be.

 

[Fone Bone]

It seems like some of the people at DC forgot that once upon a time, their main comic book readers and animated series were kids. Now all of a sudden, many of the comics and animated series/movies are primarily for adult audiences with only a small number of books, graphic novels and cartoons for the younger generation.

I'm not sure if some of this was one of the things Dan Dido did but whatever changes were made at DC, starting with the New 52, might explain why their comic book sales haven't been what they used to be.

It's the entire industry and that's why it's dying. Didio's idea that superheroes should never be happy is a big part of the reason these stories are no longer appropriate for kids.

Granted, his work was doing gangbusters with older / middle-aged men. But what are his plans to replace readers for them when they die off?

 

[Otaku-sempai]

It seems like some of the people at DC forgot that once upon a time, their main comic book readers and animated series were kids. Now all of a sudden, many of the comics and animated series/movies are primarily for adult audiences with only a small number of books, graphic novels and cartoons for the younger generation.

I'm not sure if some of this was one of the things Dan Dido did but whatever changes were made at DC, starting with the New 52, might explain why their comic book sales haven't been what they used to be.

That's a pattern that started in the 1970s when such creators as Denny O'Neal, Jim Starlin and Steve Englehart gained prominence. It didn't really gain ground until the '80s and the rise of the direct market. In animation, the growing popularity of anime helped to fuel the desire for more mature content. However, Dan DiDio may well have recognized the trend and helped to foster it.